Re: Social Imperialism [DMS]

[Mike Friedman <mikedf@xxxxxxxx>]

David,

You would probably be more aware of the ins and outs and implications
of this than I am: I'm no economist, but it seems to me that your
figures conceal more than they explain, in the same way that such
figures as "gross national product" or "per capita income" do.
Specifically, it seems to me that very different industrial branches
invest (or not even, just drain...) in colonized nations as compared
to other imperialist nations. Branches that have very different
organic compositions. The extractive, agricultural or confectionary
businesses that exploit labor in Third World countries return far
greater absolute surplus value on their investments (if indeed they
are investing anything, and not simply exploiting campesino farmers):
their absolute surplus value is greater, their rate of exploitation
is greater. If I'm not mistaken (not having read most of Capital)
part of this surplus value is transferred to branches with higher
organic compositions and greater productivity. This would seem to
imply that the 8-10% corporate profits from the "periphery" is an
underestimate. But, that's not the only implication. Given the
greater relative value of "S" from the colonized countries, as
compared to capital costs, it would seem that a greater portion of
this surplus can be offered up as "V" as opposed to "C". Or am I
splitting hairs? On the other hand, as an indication of the immediate
effect of the super-exploitation of labor in the colonized nations, a
speaker on "Wake-Up Call" on WBAI, this morning reported something to
the effect that 70% of CEOs (I didn't hear the specifics) said they
would close shop and relocate to Third World countries if workers
tried to organize in their plants. Which goes to show that workers,
particularly in those industries that can relocate in this manner,
are by no means direct or automatic beneficiaries of the pillage of
the Third World, as Jalee put it.

Mike

At 10:37 AM -0400 10/2/03, marxism-digest wrote:
> Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 07:52:56 -0500
> From: "dmschanoes" <dmschanoes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Social Imperialism [DMS]
>
> Subject: Re: Social Imperialism [DMS]
>
>
> Re: corporate profits-- I opt for the simple method-- as reported in the
> Statistical Abstracts of the US, the BEA, the FRB, etc.  international
> operations contribute app. 25% of the total US corporate profits.  Profits
> derived from Latin America, developing Asia, Africa, Caribbean are app 1/3
> of that -- usually in the 8% to 10% range.
--
Michael Friedman
Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior
City University of New York

Molecular Laboratory
Department of Invertebrate Zoology
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY  10024
(212) 313-8721


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